Vacuum cleaner brush mounting



Nov. 3, 1953 F. s. HOWARD VACUUM CLEANER BRUSH MOUNTING Filed No'v. 9, 194e 4 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 3, 1953 F, s, HOWARD 2,657,418

VACUUM CLEANER BRUSH MOUNTING Filed Nov. 9, 1946 y 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 3, 1953 F. s. HowARD 2,657,418

VACUUM CLEANER BRUSH MOUNTING Filed Nov. 9, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. 3, 1953 F. s. HOWARD VACUUM CLEANER BRUSH MOUNTING Filed Nov.- 9, 1946 4 Sheets-SheefI 4 imm.

`Patented Nov. 3, 1,953

UNITED STATES rATeNr omer.

VACUUM CLEANER BRUSHv MOUNTING v Franks. Howard, hicago, Ill., assignor to Birtman Electric Company, a corporation of Illinois Application November 9, 1946, serial No. 708,992 2l claims. (01.15-1-392) This invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and particularly to a brush mounting for a vacuum cleaner.

Vacuum cleaners of the rotatable brush type employ a nozzle with a work-contacting opening through which dirti-laden air is drawn, and a rotating brush to loosen dirt from the work being cleaned. The brush employs end bearings which are ordinarily mounted on the end walls of the nozzle, and are usually protected from the dirt the air stream. Various types of bearings and mounting devices have been used in the past on these brushes, but not all have been completely siicc'essrful, as some were bulky and expensive, and sometimes they did not maintain the brush in the exact alignment necessary.

this invention the brush mounting is very simple in operation, and is quite cheap to build. The brush may be readily removed from the nozzle. and it is held in perfect alignment during the operation of the vacuum cleaner. |The invention broadly comprises a rotatable brush in a nozzle and having an end bearing member, a coe operating bearing member engaging the rst bearing member, a socket in the end wall of the nozzle for receiving the bearing members, an opening on the bottom of the socket through which the bearing members may be inserted and removed, and a removable closure for the open ing adapted to complete the socket. In a pre- ;fe'rred embodiment the socket-contacting portions of the cooperating bearing member are made of a resilient material such as rubber or synthetic rubber. n

`The invention will be described as related to the embodiment set out in the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side ele tation of a vacuum cleaner embodying the ine vention; Fig'. 2 is a bottom view of the cleaner; Fig.- 3 isa view similar to Fig. 2 showing the bottom plate of the cleaner removed to expose the bearings and with portions broken away for clarity of illustration; Fig. 4 is a. plan view of the bottoni plate' of the cleaner; Fig. 5 is a front end view of said plate; Fig. 6 is a side view of said plate; Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken along line '1 -'I f Fig. 2; and Fig. 8 is an enlargedfragmentary sectional view through the end of the cleaner brush and its mounting.

The vacuum cleaner shown in the accompanying drawings comprises a casing I0, a nozzle I I at the front thereof, a handle I2, a dust separating bag I3'. front wheels I4, intermediate wheels I5, rear wheels I6 normally positioned above the floor, a fan chamber IT, a rotatable' fan I8 therein, a

tending from the brush to a belt driving shaft 2 Iy concentric with the fan I8 and used for driving the fan, an air inlet opening 22 at the bottom of the nozzle II, an air inlet opening 23 to the fan chamber I'I, an air passageway 24 extending' from the nozzle to the fan chamber opening 23, and a belt guard 25 for separating the belt 20 from the air in the passageway 24. The dirt# laden air is exhausted from the tan chamber I 1 through an exhaust passageway 26 into' the bag I3.

The rotatable brush I9 is provided with remov-i able brush elements 21 having bristles 28 therein?. These brush elements are adjustable by means of bolts 29 to compensate for wear on the bristles. Compression springs serve to urge the brush ele# ments outwardly. This construction of the brush is described and claimed in the Charles Irl. Sparklin and Frank S. Howard copending application Serial No. 663,710, led April 20,-r 1946, now Patent No. 2,568,772, issued September 25,. 1951.

The brush I9 has a cylindrical body portion 30 forming the brush spindle and is provided at each end with a cap 3l having an outwardly en; tending cylindrical rim 32. This rim nts closely within the end of the body portion 30 and is attached thereto. In the center of the cap 3l there is provided an outwardly extending pin 3l riveted on the cap and arranged in axial alignment with the cylindrical body portion 30 of the brush I9. v

The pin 34 is adapted to receive a bearing inem-'- ber 35, This bearing member 35 comprises a clip shaped member 36 having an inner end- 31 f larger diameter than the outer end 38. Within the outer end 38 there is located a cylindrical bearing 39 of substantially the same length as the cup 3,6 adapted to receive the pin- 39. Between the inner end 31 of the cup 36 and the cylindrical bearing 39 there is located a felt washer 10. Attached to the outer end 38 of the cup 36 is a block yIIB of resilient material such as natural or syn# thetic rubber having a square cross-section, This block covers the sides of the outer end 38 and covers the end thereof except for the small' hole 1l. A thrust plug 72 is provided within the cup 39 at the end of the cylindrical bearing 39 and against which the pin 34 bears when the bearing member 35 is in place. The bearing member 35 is readily inserted on and removed from the pin 34 when the brush is free from the cleaner. As the bearing 39 is cylindrical and is fitted within the cup 36 and the resilient material 4D isl rela; tively square with both being axially alignedthe resilient material has thin portions in the plane shown in Figure 8 and relatively thick portions diagonally therethrough as shown in Figure 7. These thin portions are aligned with the pull of the belt so as to prevent excessive yielding while the thick portions are diagonal to the belt so as to absorb vibration. Thus, the structure produces maximum vibration absorbing with minimum yielding.

The bearing member which includes the resilient block is designed to be tightly held within a socket 4| formed integrally with the end wall 42 of the nozzle H. This socket 4| comprises parallel substantially vertical walls 43 having an open bottom 44 through which the resilient block 49 may be inserted. 4The block nts within the recess 45 formed by the inner surfaces of the walls 43 and the flat surface 49 extending between the tops of the walls 43. This construction is shown most clearly in Fig. 7.

In order to hold the bearing 35 within the sock et 4| there is provided an upwardly extending closure member 41 having a flat top portion 4S arranged to bear against the bottom of the resilient block 45. The closure member fil, as shown, is part of a work-contacting end portion 49 of the nozzle opening 22. The end portion 49 is formed integrally with the rear work-ccntacting portion 50 of the nozzle opening 22, which in turn is formed integrally with the removable bottom plate 5| forming the bottom of the air passageway 24. This bottom plate 5i when in place forms the bottom of the aii1 passageway 2li and the bottom of the belt guard 25, and has an extended front portion 52 passing under the brush beneath the belt. The extended portion has upwardly extending members t3 on either side of the belt to protect the brush contacting portion of the belt from dust. The bottom plate is also provided with a spring-actuated rear gate 54 through which a converter attachment may be inserted and a raised portion 55 for holding the converter attachment against the air inlet 23 to the fan chamber Il. The bottom plate 5| is described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 708,157, led November 6, 1945.

Because of the resiliency of the block 49, it is held tightly Within the socket 4|. This is provided for by preferably making the block slightly larger than the socket. The block also serves to absorb vibration and shock set up in the brush I9. As can be seen, the brush may be easily removed from the cleaner by removing the bot-- tom plate 5| and pulling the brush, together with its end bearing members 35, from the' sockets. The brush can be just as easily reinserted by forcing the blocks 49 into the socket.

Around the front of the nozzle Il there is lon cated a furniture guard 56 engaging projections 51 on the front of the nozzle that prevent upward or downward displacement of the guard. The ends of the furniture guard are releasably held by means of holding member 58. The furniture guard is described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 708,482, nled November 8, 1946.

In order to protect the bearings 35 from dust in the dust-laden air stream there are provided upward projections 99 formed integrally with the bottom plate 5|, side members 49 and rear member 5|). Each projection E59 is spaced inwardly from a closure member 49 and has a curved top surface 6| to closely embrace the spindle of the brush I9.

Having described my invention as related to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be unlimited by any of the details of description unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

l. In a vacuum cleaner including a nozzle, a removable base plate on the cleaner, a rotatable brush in said nozzle including a spindle, a driving belt engaging said spindle, an extended pin mem ber on the end of the spindle aligned axially therewith, a removable bearing having a cylindrical part embracing the pin member and a vibration-absorbing resilient material of substantially square cross-section attached to the outer surface of the cylindrical part, a substantially rigid socket in the nozzle rigid therewith and shaped similarly to the bearing to prevent rotation of the bearing in the socket and having an open bottom through which the bearing may be inserted and removed, said socket tightly receiving the bearing with the resilient material being under compression, and a closure o-n the removable base plate extending substantially completely across said open bottom to complete the socket and pressing tightly against substantially the entire `corresponding side of said resilient material, said resilient material of the removable bearing having thick portions extending diagonally of the square cross section of the bearing and thin portions intermediate the thick portions, said thin portions of the square resilient material being substantially aligned with the driving belt to prevent excessive yielding of the resilient material under the pull of the belt and said thick portions being arranged diagonally to the belt to absorb vibration.

2. In a vacuum cleaner including a nozzle, a rotatable brush in the nozzle having end bearing members on the ends of the brush axially aligned therewith, each end bearing member comprising a cylindrical metal part and a block of vibrationabsorbing resilient material o1" substantially square cross-section attached to the outer surface of the cylindrical part, a rigid socket at each end of the nozzle and rigid therewith receiving one of the blocks of resilient material, each socket being shaped similarly to its block and tightly enclosing the block, the resilient material of each bearing member having thick portions extending diagonally of the square cross section of the bearing member and thin portions intermediate the thick portions and means removably retaining the bearing members in their sockets, said thin portions of resilient material being substantially aligned with the driving belt to prevent excessive yielding of the resilient material under the pull of said belt and the thick portions being arranged substantially diagonally to the belt to aid in absorbing vibration.

FRANK S. HOWARD.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,462,574 Hoover July 24, 1923 1,995,630 Bass Mar. 26, 1935 2,960,651 Allen Nov. 10, 1936 2,176,769 Martinet Oct. 17, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 538,613 Great Britain Aug. 11, 1941 991/31 Australia Feb. 9, 1932 

